[Taxx]

Finchpaw

So many times it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory

Finchpaw carried a load of used bedding toward the dirtplace, nose wrinkled at the smell. It was the last bit, at least, and then he could take some prey and retire to his den for a bit. His fur prickled uncomfortably, the long strands standing out, reacting to the static in the air, no matter how he had already tried to smooth them down.

Ducking into the dirtplace, Finchpaw dropped the moss and kicked it into a corner, well out of the way. Then, backing up, he pulled a breath of fresh air and shook out his coat- which he regretted instantly, as still more fur stood on end, wreathing him from head to tail.

Grunting in annoyance, Finchpaw strode over to the pile of fresh-kill and snatched a mouse, heading toward the apprentices' den and settling down close beside one of his denmates, Pantherpaw, a new apprentice. Taking a bite of the mouse, Finchpaw blinked at the tom. "Normally I hate rain," he spoke up, "but I kind of wish it would storm already. I don't know how much more of this my fur can take. How are you getting on?" Adding on the last in the hope of finding out more about the tom- his story was a bit odd, he and his brother having been born in TreeClan but raised in RainClan due to his parents' deaths.
@zen

Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must FIGHT just to keep them ALIVE

[Deleted]

This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong.

---

Pantherpaw lay outside the apprentice's den, waiting for his brother to get back from training. His tail waved in slow back and forth motions over the ground, but he was otherwise motionless, watching TreeClan's inhabitants as they went about their day. He felt... nothing for these cats. A sense of isolation surrounded him from the moment he'd been taken from his mother, from Echoshade. No matter what these cats said, he didn't care. It was too bad for this 'Meadowleaf' that she'd died, but she wasn't his mother. If she'd lived, sure, she could have been. But she hadn't.

Some cats seemed to act like he should care about her, should want to know about her, hear stories, but he didn't. How was he supposed to care about some cat he'd never met and never would meet? Especially when he had a perfectly good, living mother back in RainClan? His tail lashed once in frustration before returning to its more even motions. It wasn't fair. None of this was fair. They hadn't even asked him and Flamepaw if they wanted to come to TreeClan. Why hadn't they gotten any say in it? The answer would have been NO, but shouldn't they get a choice in where they wanted to live?

Apparently not. Magpiewing had told them that since both their parents were from TreeClan, it was only right that the two of them also live in TreeClan. That's how the Clans worked. He had explained the entire situation to them, and it made sense logically, but that didn't mean it was right in the end. Pantherpaw laid his chin on his paws, sadly wondering what Echoshade was doing right then, if she was thinking about them, if she missed them at all. And what about Dewpaw and Fernpaw? Had they learned to swim yet? Caught their first fish?

He almost didn't register it when an older apprentice sat down nearby, until the other tom spoke, jolting him rudely from his thoughts with some generic comment about the weather. Pantherpaw raised his head and let out a soft huff of breath at being intruded upon, then pointedly turned away and set to work grooming his fur. Hopefully Finchpaw would just leave him alone.

---

This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going.

Taxx

[Taxx]

Finchpaw

So many times it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory

Finchpaw had expected some sort of reply, even if it was just a single word of agreement or disgust. 'Yeah, it should rain' or 'No way, I hate getting wet'. And they could have gone from there. But Pantherpaw only gave him a brief glance before turning his back, starting to groom himself.

The young ginger tom blinked, the feeling of being so completely dismissed rankling him. "Rude," he sniffed in return, taking a bite of the mouse. "I thought RainClan queens taught their kits respect. I guess I was wrong. Or maybe the queen who raised you was just stuck up. They think they're so special because they can all swim. What's so great about getting wet?"

A grimace crossed his face before he took another bite, an eye fixed on the younger apprentice. "I'd much rather be TreeClan. RainClan can keep their rivers and their stinky fish."

@zen

Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must FIGHT just to keep them ALIVE

[Deleted]

This is my temporary home, it's not where I belong.

---

Pantherpaw had intended to simply ignore anything else Finchpaw said, focusing on his grooming and making sure to drive home the point that he wanted to be left alone. He had hoped, as Finchpaw's declaration that he was rude, that might be the end of it. Bus his ears twisted back toward the older tom as he mentioned RainClan. Then he suggested that Echoshade was stuck up and Pantherpaw's head whipped around, dark golden eyes narrowed dangerously as he stared his fellow apprentice down, his pelt bristling furiously.

As Finchpaw kept going on, talking down on RainClan, insinuating how TreeClan was so much better, Pantherpaw pushed to his paws. His tail lashed once as he hissed, the only warning given, before he leaped, claws unsheathed, onto the older tom's back. He wasn't about to let this fishbrain get away with insulting RainClan, and certainly not with insulting his mother. He clung to the larger cat's back, the fact that he didn't really know what he was doing, having had no real battle training thus far in his short life, not even occurring to him. It didn't matter. His mother's honor was at stake.

---

This is just a stop on the way to where I'm going.

Taxx
Justice for Echoshade's honor! xD

[Taxx]

Finchpaw

So many times it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory

He'd hit a nerve, it seemed. Which hadn't been his plan or anything. Finchpaw kept an eye on the younger tom as he continued to gnaw away on the mouse, taking in the deep glare and the bristling fur. He made no outward signs of preparation- unless you looked close enough to see the tensing of muscles- but he wasn't afraid of the tom who was half his size.

A lashing tail and a hiss shortly preceded Pantherpaw's leap, and he landed squarely on Finchpaw's back. Claws pricked through the older's thick pelt; in the last minute before he landed, Finchpaw had bristled his own fur to make it harder for those claws to sink into his skin. If he'd thought it'd be that easy, he was sorely mistaken.

And in the same moment that he landed, Finchpaw went into a counter-move, throwing himself to his side before trying to roll all the way over on his back with the intent of squashing Pantherpaw beneath him. Nearly full-grown now, twice Pantherpaw's and certainly twice his weight (a diet of fish didn't seem to be doing him any good in that aspect) Finchpaw didn't think it'd be too long before the younger apprentice was begging for him to get off. Unless he managed to actually escape before Finchpaw's roll completed. 

@zen

Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must FIGHT just to keep them ALIVE

[Deleted]

Flamepaw had just returned from making his dirt, noticed what, at first glance, looked like Finchpaw attacking Pantherpaw. 

Flamepaw was not having that. 

He didn't even know the reason behind the fight. He didn't need to. All he knew was that Finchpaw was daring to attack his brother. His brother who wouldn't hurt a fly. His brother who was all he had left in this StarClan forsaken Clan. 

Flamepaw didn't even think. He just leapt. Screeching a battle-cry of his own, he ran flat out into Finchpaw, who, yes, did outweigh him and out size him and had out-learned him - he was older than them - in an attempt to stop him from hurting his brother. 

His claws were unsheathed. He'd had very little formal battle training - but he was ready. He was ready to defend his kin, his best friend, his life. 

" Finchpaw, you WILL leave my brother alone. You may be bigger, older, stronger... but you can't take us both."

169 / Taxx @zen 

nobody hurts someone flame cares about and gets away with it, come @ me bro

[Taxx]

Finchpaw

So many times it happens too fast
You trade your passion for glory

"This is what you get," Finchpaw gloated as his roll-over went successfully, ending with the smaller cat caught between him and the ground. Paws in the air, Finchpaw stretched and yawned, seemingly oblivious to the stares he was getting from the other TreeClan cats. "All I wanted was a nice conversation, but you..."

He never finished the sentence; a screech rang out and the ginger tom just caught a glimpse of equally ginger fur when a form crashed into him, the head striking right over his ribs. Momentum rolled Finchpaw off Pantherpaw as he yelped in surprise and pain. "Yow! What was that for?" Tail lashing, the older apprentice sprang to his paws, glaring at Flamepaw, but a gleam of amusement lit them at the younger's words.

"You think so, huh? You're hardly an apprentice, still damp behind the ears, and you think you can take me? Ha!" Swaggering now, though he kept his eyes on the two, Finchpaw eagerly egged them on. "Try it then. Even with three paws, I could beat you both without even getting out of breath."

@zen @calico

Don't lose your grip on the dreams of the past
You must FIGHT just to keep them ALIVE